Silver Spoon Or Skills
Episode 136R
Episode Guide
Episode Timestamps
ChooseFI Podcast Episode Show Notes
Episode Title: Funding a Roth IRA for Children
Episode Summary:
The episode explores innovative strategies for funding a Roth IRA for children through legitimate employment within a family business. By employing their child in a side hustle, parents can provide valuable life skills while simultaneously offering tax advantages. This method allows parents to model entrepreneurial behavior, fostering a mindset shift that promotes financial independence. With projected contributions and the power of compound interest, children could witness substantial growth in their Roth IRA, culminating in significant wealth by retirement.
Key Takeaways:
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Modeling Entrepreneurship
- Engage your child in family business operations to instill entrepreneurial skills.
- Key Quote: "Model entrepreneurial behavior; show your kids they're not solely dependent on one employer."
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Benefits of Funding a Roth IRA
- Consider funding your child's Roth IRA through legitimate work to ensure tax benefits.
- If a child earns $3,000 a year from ages 8 to 18, the investment could grow significantly by retirement, potentially amounting to nearly $1.2 million.
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The Power of Compound Interest
- Recognize the impact of early investments for substantial future returns.
- Key Quote: "Investing $3,000 yearly for 10 years can lead to nearly $1.2 million by retirement."
Timestamps:
- Podcast Intro
- Funding a Roth IRA for Children
- Case Study on Childhood Employment
- Community Stories and Voicemails
- "Listeners are consuming knowledge from 260 episodes and changing their lives."
Actionable Insights:
- Evaluate your current side hustles and consider how to include your children in some capacity.
- Begin planning on how to create a Roth IRA for your children through legitimate earnings.
- Research compound interest calculators to project future savings.
FAQs:
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How can I fund my child's Roth IRA?
You can fund your child's Roth IRA by employing them in a legitimate business and paying them for their work, thus providing the necessary earned income.
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What are the tax benefits of employing my child?
Employing your child can lead to reduced taxable income for parents and potential savings on payroll taxes.
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Can my child withdraw contributions from their Roth IRA before retirement?
Yes, contributions to a Roth IRA can be withdrawn penalty-free; however, earnings are subject to withdrawal rules.
Key Quotes:
- "An investment of $30,000 could grow to $47,000 by age 18."
- "Your financial journey is a dynamic process, not a fixed moment."
Resources Mentioned:
- The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins
- Design Your Future by Speaker
- Freelance to Freedom by Vincent Puglisi
Discussion Questions:
- How can engaging your child in work contribute to their future financial success?
- What steps can you take to employ your children in a legitimate business?
Podcast Extro: "You've been listening to ChooseFI Podcast, where we help middle-class America build wealth one life hack at a time."
Funding a Roth IRA for Your Children: Strategies for Financial Independence
Financial independence is not just a dream; it's a viable goal that you can start working towards today. One innovative strategy involves funding a Roth IRA for your children through legitimate employment in a family business. This article provides actionable strategies and insights on how you can implement this practice, foster entrepreneurial skills in your children, and set them on a path toward financial independence.
The Importance of Starting Early
Investing in your child's future early can significantly affect their financial trajectory. Engaging your child in family business operations from a young age can instill valuable skills and lessons about work, earnings, and entrepreneurship. By employing your child in a side hustle or family business, you can help them develop a strong work ethic, learn relevant skills, and understand the value of money.
Legitimizing Employment for Children
To ensure that your child can contribute to a Roth IRA, their income must qualify as earned income. This means that you need to have them involved in legitimate work. You can achieve this by:
- Creating a clear job description: Define the tasks your child will perform in your family business or side hustle.
- Paying a reasonable wage: Compensate them fairly for their work, ensuring it aligns with the tasks they are performing.
- Documenting employment: Maintain records of hours worked and wages paid to establish legitimacy.
Such practices ensure compliance with labor laws while providing valuable life lessons for your child.
Tax Advantages of Employing Your Child
Employing your child not only provides them with valuable experience but also offers significant tax advantages for your family. By employing your child and paying them a salary, you can:
- Reduce your taxable income: The salary you pay your child can be deducted from your business income, potentially lowering your overall tax burden.
- Avoid payroll taxes: If you're operating as a sole proprietorship or an LLC, you can often avoid payroll taxes when paying your child, further benefiting your finances.
Funding a Roth IRA: The Power of Compound Interest
Once your child earns money through legitimate work, you can open a Roth IRA for them. This retirement account allows contributions to grow tax-free and offers tax-free withdrawals in retirement. Here’s how you can maximize this opportunity:
- Start with small contributions: Even a $3,000 contribution annually from ages 8 to 18 can accumulate significant growth. With the power of compound interest, this amount can grow to nearly $1.2 million by retirement age if invested wisely.
- Teach the importance of saving and investing: Involve your child in discussions about investment options, helping them understand the long-term benefits.
Entrepreneurial Mindset Development
As you involve your child in your family business, you're not just teaching them about work; you're modeling entrepreneurial behavior. This modeling helps them see the value in being proactive rather than waiting for opportunities. Here are a few ways you can instill this mindset:
- Encourage decision-making: Allow your child to take part in decisions regarding their work responsibilities and earnings.
- Discuss future goals: Talk openly about your financial aspirations and the role that entrepreneurship plays in achieving those goals.
- Create challenges: Encourage your child to solve problems within the business or identify opportunities for improvement.
Track Progress and Celebrate Success
As your child begins to earn and save, it's essential to recognize and celebrate their achievements. Tracking their financial milestones can:
- Motivate them: Sharing tangible progress, like savings goals or investment growth, reinforces positive behavior toward finances.
- Build confidence: Acknowledgment for their efforts boosts their confidence in managing their financial future.
Conclusion: Cultivating Financial Independence
Investing in your child's future through legitimate work, a funded Roth IRA, and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset lays the foundation for lasting financial independence. By adopting these practices, you foster not only a solid financial standing for your child but also instill in them the values and skills necessary to thrive in their future endeavors.
Take action today to create a wealth-building path for your children and empower them with the knowledge and experience they need to succeed. Remember, life is a moving picture; the choices you make now will shape their future.
Here's a case study on funding a child's Roth IRA and listen to feedback from the community.
[elementor-template id="143609"]Solar Panels Are Installed
It's official! The solar panels are installed on Brad's roof and they are producing power. He is using the SolarEdge app to track their production over time.
Trading In Gas For Battery-Powered Lawnmower
Since the move to a smaller lot, Jonathan decided that he no longer needed the riding lawnmower. With the money he earned from the sale, he decided to buy a battery-powered mower instead of a gas-powered mower.
Already, he has discovered the convenience of not having to worry about oil, gas, or other maintenance that accompanies a gas-powered mower.
At some point in the future, it could be worth it to take convenience a step further and buy a "Roomba-style" lawnmower. Basically, it could allow you to buy the convenience of never needing to mow your lawn again. Although this is just an extreme example, it underlines the importance of being open to the idea of improving your life based on your values.
FI is not about being miserly, it is not about watching every penny and eating beans and rice. It's about what do you value in life.
Roth IRA Benefits For Your Child
After Sean's deep dive into funding a child's Roth IRA, it is clear that this strategy could have amazing impacts.
My biggest takeaway was the extra benefits that are added when the parent has a side hustle sole prop, LLC, not an S-Corp. The extra benefits when a parent has a side hustle in which they are able to employ their child.
Of course, it needs to be approached in a legitimate way with proper documentation. But the potential benefits of this strategy could alter the trajectory of your child's future in a positive way.
By showing them how to work hard and optimize their life, they are effectively building behavior that will ensure that they never need this money. They would learn many valuable lessons like:
- Realizing that your side hustle provides an income which makes you less reliant on a sole employer.
- Entrepreneurship by building a side hustle.
- Talent stacking.
- Building a work ethic by building something yourself.
- Spending time with you and making valuable memories.
I think the idea that you can take something that you are working on, help your kid out. Both develop an income stream, build this skill set, learn entrepreneurship, and get a chance to spend time with their parents, build that relationship, is incredibly valuable.
Related: How to Make Your Kid a Millionaire
Roth IRA Case Study
In this example, a couple is earning $85,000 through their day jobs and $25,000 through a side hustle. In total, they earn $110,000 a year and we assume the standard tax-deductible of $24,400.
How would paying their child $3,000 a year impact their finances?
After the standard deductible, their taxable income is $86,000. In 2019, if you are filing married jointly and your taxable income is over $78,950 then you are in the 22% marginal federal tax bracket. Therefore, the dollars over $78,950 are charged at a rate of 22%. Basically, the $7,050 are taxed at 22%.
By employing their child and paying their child the $3,000, that effectively for them is going to reduce their taxation on that last $3,000 by 22%.
If the parents could employ their child legitimately through the sole proprietorship or LLC, then they could also avoid the payroll tax of 15.3%. So, the family would save $660 plus the payroll tax.
Now, if that child earns $3,000 a year from age 8 to 18 it would total $30,000. If they put the total of that earned income into the Roth IRA and invested in low-cost mutual funds with annual returns of 8% then by 18 years old the account balance would be $46,936. By age 28, the account would grow to $101,000. By 60, that original investment would be worth $1.2 million!
Plus, they do not have to leave the money in this Roth until 59.5. The contributions are available for withdrawal at any time.
This could be an amazing opportunity to set up second-generation FI!
Listen to the full episode with the FI Tax Guy here.
[elementor-template id="137737"]Community Feedback
Let's hear what some of our members have been up to.
Voicemail from Chris
"Hi Brad and Jonathan. I’ve called in once before when I paid off $100,000 in my loans when I was in medical school and I decided to try and take charge in that way and reconsolidate. I wanted to reach out now because my wife wanted me to call in to leave a voicemail saying thank you. Recently you convinced us that we should check our insurance policies and now we are going to be saving about $300 every six months in GEICO.
I wanted to say thank you because when I was in a dark place with about, you know $400,000 of student loans and couldn't really find the air to breathe or look forward and had to look for the things that I could control, this sort of helped me change my perspective and feel like I had a modicum of control in my life when I felt like, in all intents and purposes, I was owned by the medical system. And you know, this really helped me find a lot of hope and perspective in my life. Not only in change financially but also personally.
You guys inspired me to understand my value and last week I talked to my employer and while they tried to brush me off initially when I discussed finances, I pressed them that their fringe benefits were simply not competitive. They immediately went up the chain and came back to me with a more competitive offer which may still not be at the top of what I can earn but it something. And they never would have considered that if I hadn’t spoken to them. And you guys gave me the confidence and motivation to do that. So I just wanted to say thank you. I don’t think I could say thank you enough ways. "
Great job Chris! You took the initiative and got off the couch. Anyone can listen to ideas on how to change your life but you took action and made it happen!
Robert Announced Early Retirement
After 17 years at a company, Robert left the office forever. It shows that by making optimized choices over the course of several years, you can make this happen.
You can reach that point where you do not need to work before you are 40 years old. And you get the next five-plus decades of your life to do with what you want.
Share Your Story
Do you have a story that needs to be shared? This community is entirely dedicated to people making optimized choices that impact their life in a positive way. Everyone has a different story, but learning from others is a great place to get started.
You can leave a voicemail to be shared on the show here.
Or you can submit your story here. You may have the opportunity to share your story with the community on the show!
ChooseFI T-shirts
By popular demand, Brad and Jonathan have found a way to distribute t-shirts. In a similar way to the Tugg ticket platform, the t-shirt maker will send out shirts to a local group when a minimum threshold is hit.
Of course, these t-shirts are not being sold for profit. It can be a fun way to get involved in your local community. Find out more from your local group. If you need to find a local group, then start your search here.
Playing with FIRE
The Richmond screening is tonight! If you are still looking for tickets, then buy yours here. This evening of FIRE is the largest FI event yet with over 500 people coming out.
If you want to find a show in your area, then check out Tugg for tickets and dates.
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